Today I took Penelope for a free trial class at My Gym Children's Fitness Center. I heard about it from a mom in my meetup group so I thought we would check it out to see if it was something we would be interested in. The class for her age group is called Gymsters. It is a one hour class that includes singing, dancing, games, puppet shows, taking turns on different rides and playing with different toys all the while learning gymnastics. I was told the class is different each week, with new music, toys and activities. You should have seen Penelope she was so excited. Running around getting into everything. The tumbling was a little scary for her even though she is constantly scaring me to death at home trying to tumble off the couch! I took a few pictures of her day at the gym it was hard since parents have to be involved a bit. It was a fun day and we will definitely be back!
While I was making our Cajun Chicken Pasta tonight I noticed that it was suddenly very quiet . I thought I better go check on Penelope since she is usually in the same room as me and only goes into her room to bring all her toys out. When I walked into her room I didn't notice her at first..."Penelope, where are you?" and then I heard some rustling around. Silly girl!
Here is my meal plan for the week:
Monday-Cajun Chicken Pasta ( I added Paremsan Cheese to the sauce and used Penne Pasta instead of Spaghetti.)
Tuesday- Grilled Chicken Caeser Salad
Wednesday- Seasoned Pork Chops and Creamy Squash Casserole
Thursday- Beef Broccoli Stir Fry with Brown Rice
Friday- Buffalo Wings
Last night I made baked salmon, steamed broccoli and brown rice for dinner and I found out Penelope loves Brown rice! She had 3 servings, that little piggy. She asked for more but I cut her off at three. For lunch today she had her very first Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, Green Grapes and Blueberries. She wasn't all that into her sandwich and only had a few bites.
I decided to post twice tonight since it just didn't seem right to post about food in the last post. ;p I found this cute little box at Dollar Tree yesterday so I put Penelope's lunch in it today. Nothing exciting...I made chicken salad with the leftover roasted chicken we had for dinner last night so she had a Chicken Salad Sandwich on Sourdough, Apple (she requested this), and Goldfish Crackers.
Here is a picture of our dinner tonight. Chris said it was one of the best meals I have made in awhile.
The Roasted Pork Loin came out really tender and the Brown Sugar Carrots and Mashed Potatoes were yummy. The only thing I can't take credit for was the gravy, my arch-nemesis. I know it's simple to make right? Still I had a bad experience once *shutter* and I am still afraid to attempt it again.
Boneless Pork Tenderloin
Minced Garlic
Lemon Herb Seasoning
Italian Seasoning
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Rub Pork with Garlic, Seasonings and Salt & Pepper. Drizzle with Olive Oil and cover and let marinate in the fridge for at least two hours. Preheat oven to 350 and place Pork on a roasting rack and roast for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you have a thermometer the temperature should read 145 degrees. Let it sit for 10 minutes before you slice. It's so easy and so good.
Guess who made P in the potty! She went like 5 times today! We had an accident early this morning and then she didn't go at all before her nap. I've been putting diapers on before her nap so when she woke up I took it off and told her she had to use the potty before we could go on a walk to the mailbox. She sat on the potty and went! Then we walked all the way to the mailbox and back without a diaper (she had pants on of course!) and when we got back she went in the potty again. She came and got me 3 more times as I was making dinner to let me know she needed to go and we rushed off to the bathroom. I was so excited, we made up a potty song "Poo poo in the potty and Pee pee in the potty, Poo poo in the potty, Yeah Yeah Yeah!" and she got a sticker and lots of praise each time she went. She was getting so good at it that I made a mistake and left her alone for a minute to check my email and she came running in the room and guess what she left on the floor behind her...Yep, that's right the dreaded #2. Oh well my fault I should have kept my eye on her. Maybe she will go Poo poo in the potty tomorrow! :)
Well today was day one of our three day potty training. No going in the the potty but she sure went on the tile floor and in her bedroom a few times. She didn't like it and would cry after she went so I am hoping she will figure it out tomorrow. I am going to try a couple more days and if she doesn't get it we will take a break and try again in a few weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Roasted Chicken
2 to 3 Tablespoons of Butter
2 Cups of Chicken Broth
1/2 an Onion
Clove of Garlic mashed up
About 1 Teaspoon of Lemon Herb Seasoning
About 1/2 Teaspoon of Italian Seasoning
Salt and Pepper
Preheat oven to 375. Mix butter, Garlic, Lemon Herb Seasoning, Italian Seasoning and Pepper to taste in a small bowl. Place Chicken on a rack in a roasting pan and rub some of the Butter mixture underneath the skin of the Chicken and rub the rest all over the outside of the Chicken. Place the Onion inside the cavity of the Chicken. I trussed the Chicken with some string but this isn't necessary. Pour the Chicken Broth into the roasting pan and just a little over the entire Chicken. Sprinkle Salt over the Chicken and then cover entire pan with aluminum foil and roast the Chicken for an hour. After an hour remove the foil and roast for another 45 minutes to an hour. Chicken is done when juices run clear or when your handy thermometer tells you so. :)
Just a side note, You have probably noticed I am using caps on words that don't need to be capitalized. I am aware of this (chris) I just thought I would capitalize the ingredients in the recipe so they stand out as you read it. Don't ask me why it just seemed helpful to me, I guess I'm just silly like that.
I made the blueberry Barefoot Contessa pancakes from the mix my sister bought me for breakfast today. Chris said they were really good and here are his slathered in the Maine Blueberry Syrup. I don't like pancakes so Chris and Penelope enjoyed them while I ate a toasted bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Yum! Chris also said the Barefoot Contessa coffee flavored with a hint of cinnamon was good.
For lunch today I decided to make daddy/daughter bento's. They had some Shrimp fried in Fish Fry, Hummus and Naan Bread and Broccoli and Tomatoes with Jalapeno Ranch for dipping. Penelope ate the tomatoes and the Naan and Hummus. The last week or so she hasn't had quite her usual appetite and has been a little picky. I hope this is just a stage she is going through.
I took Penelope to another story time today, this one was at Barnes & Noble. Miss Stacie read 2 books then past out coloring pages and crayons for the little ones to color. One of the other moms there said Penelope was really good at scribbling. Hehe :) After that Miss Stacie passed out Rice Krispy treats so Penelope had her very first one today. She loved it.
3 Cups of Water
1 16oz bag of Frozen Strawberries
Juice from 4 Large Lemons
Sugar to Taste
I thought it was pretty good but of course Chris said it wasn't sweet enough. Whatever! You go squeeze your own fresh juice!
Finally today is National Hat Day so Penelope would like to present you with a hat fashion show.
Enjoy and Happy Hat Day!!
Thought I would let you all know that seehere is offering 50 free 4x8 photo cards with the coupon code: newbaby. All you pay is the $4.99 for shipping! These would make great Valentine cards! Yikes Valentines Day already! That also means one little girl is going to be turning two really soon. I can't believe she is going to be two already. She is growing up too fast! Check out little Miss Potato Head, she tries to put her Mr and Mrs Potato Head parts on herself all the time. She wears the earrings and hats and has even tried to put an eye into her own. OUCH!
Penelope had a playdate with her friends Destiny and Ezekial today, thanks Josie for bringing the kiddies over!
Penelope had a playdate with her friends Destiny and Ezekial today, thanks Josie for bringing the kiddies over!
Penelope's dentist appointment went great. Her dentist was awesome and he called her extraordinary. He and the tech said they had never had a patient that young that was that good. She just sat there and let the dentist clean away at her teeth. I had been preparing her for the visit for the last couple of weeks by telling her about the dentist and showing her how to open her mouth really wide and say "aahh" and I guess it really helped. She also loves brushing her teeth so we had no problems at her appointment at all. I was worried she was going to be difficult but as usual I had nothing to her worry about. This little girl is absolutely the best! They gave her a little chart to check off when we brush and floss her teeth every morning and night so I taped it to the bathroom wall to remind us. I guess it's time I make appointments for Chris and I to see the dentist as well. We both haven't been in years, eeek!
I didn't take too many pictures while we were in San Diego but here are a couple of Penelope. We went with great grandma to her favorite Chinese buffet but since it was so hot Penelope didn't feel much like eating so she had some strawberries, grapes and jello. Here she is very excited about her lunch and here she is saying "all done". Here she is swinging in grandmas backyard. Tomorrow she has her first dentist appointment, hopefully she won't be traumatized.
We are back from San Diego! We had a great time visiting with family and of course it was hot as it always is when I visit. It only took 3 hours and 30 minutes each way, we didn't hit any traffic, Wheee! Penelope was so good in the car, but then again she is so use to traveling. On the way back she slept for 3 hours and only woke up when we were 30 minutes away from home! I drove the whole way, both ways, without stopping. No lunch breaks and no potty breaks! Did you hear that Chris no potty breaks! :) It was a nice trip but I wasn't very pleased with what I came home to. My crazy cat likes to run around on top of our kitchen cabinets and then jump onto the refrigerator to get down. Apparently when he jumped on the refrigerator he managed to open the freezer door...UGH! I came home to a huge smelly mess. I had just gone grocery shopping before I left and our stocked freezer had to be thrown out. All our meats, veggies, ice cream, fruit, everything! I was so mad! Then I realized I had forgotten to close Penelope's bedroom door before we left and the cat got in there and decided to puke all over her carpet! Then he decided, even though I had cleaned his litter box before I left, that he was going to miss the litter box and make P on the floor right next to it instead! He never does this! I guess he was pretty upset that he got left behind. Anyway we are glad to be home and get back to business as usual. The cats sleeping in the garage tonight.
Today I took Penelope to story time at a bookstore here called Russo's Books. It was our first time going and we will definitely be going back. We were about 5 minutes late and the place was crawling with little ones and their parents. Next time I have to remember to get there early so we can find a good seat. The lady that hosts this, Miss Lynn, is great. She started off singing songs with the kiddies and at first Penelope just stood back and watched, I think she was overwhelmed with all the other little ones. They were singing songs she was very familiar with so eventually she started swaying back and fourth and then jumped in with hand gestures and clapping and of course "yaaaay" after every song. That's one of her favorite words, that and "whoa". :) I took some pictures but decided not to post any since there were other children in them but we had a blast. Afterwards Penelope read a book in the store. Then we went on a lunch date to Applebees! I had a gift certificate that I received from one of the survey companies I take surveys for online and I thought she would really enjoy that. Here she is waiting for her meal and here she is chowing down on her "cheeseandburger" and fries.
Chris is going out of town for work for a couple of days so I decided to drive down to San Diego and visit my mom. We are leaving tomorrow and hopefully I can bypass the icky traffic in LA.
We woke up this morning and decided to take Penelope to our local zoo, CALM. It's really small, needs some maintenance and doesn't have very many animals but Penelope had a blast and that made the $7.00 admission worth it. All the animals are native to California. Here is a link so you can see the animals we saw. I was bummed that the butterfly exhibit was no longer there. We were actually the first ones to get there and it was neat to have the place to ourselves, I think there was probably 4 other families that were visiting and we were able to see everything in under 2 hours. Definitely not the San Diego Zoo, which reminds me, Chris and I have this ongoing debate about what zoo is better the San Diego Zoo or the Portland Zoo. I say San Diego he says Portland. OK, so I have never actually been to the Portland Zoo but I just can't imagine the Portland Zoo being better then Sanb Diego. If there is anyone out there that has been to both of these zoos please leave me a comment with your opinion so that Chris and I can settle this once and for all. Here are some pictures of are relaxing day at the zoo.
And finally the star of the Bakersfield zoo, the black bear. I am obsessed with bears ever since living in Alaska and reading the book Alaska Bear Tales. Don't you just want to go give him a big bear hug? He looks so cute and cuddly!